The House of Beardsley

Chapter Twenty-three

Around a week had passed since me and Master Eugene's last visit when one night, after dinner, Rudy called me out again.

It was no longer strange. Our group of girls had assimilated well with the other employees, besides Phillip, of course, and sometimes at night we hung out with them.

Rhiannon began to use the Beardsley library, borrowing thicker and thicker books each time, and they were fancy too: ones with leather-bound cover and silver or gold gothic letters engraved into it. Sometimes she also had 'special chores', tidying Silas's office or running an errand for him. It was hard to accept at first, but when I saw how Clo and Beth got on innocently without any knowledge of what happened, I tried my best to pretend I didn't too.

Yes, Rhiannon and I weren't enemies. Our masters may have different things in mind, but that didn't mean anything for us. We were friends.

Talking about friendships, Beth became good friends with Matheus, Holden, and Otis as she had started to play cards regularly with them after dinner, along with Mister Kupka, who was both a bad player and sore loser. And, even though Mister Kupka would never admit to it, he had began to grow fond of Beth too, treating her like a daughter. Well, she was the youngest, and her optimism and occasional silliness brought our solemn servants' quarters and dining halls a lot of fun.

Clo, surprisingly, had befriended gloomy Harper, who was actually twenty-seven. He smoked too, so if they were both free and bored, the two would wordlessly go to the back door and smoke. Once, when Beth teased her about it, Clo answered emotionlessly,

"I would never do something as stupid as fall for someone in my workplace. Besides, if any men were to ask for anything before marriage, I know that they won't follow up on it."

It reminded me of what she said about the Beardsley men.

Either way, with all the new friendships blossoming, I began to talk to Rudy more too. Apparently he had a wife and daughter too, but his wife died a long time ago and his daughter went to work overseas, leaving him alone. That's why he began to work in the Beardsley house, not paying the rumors any attention.

"What about the others?" I had asked. "Especially Harper. He's so young: I would've expected him to continue his education or learn a trade, not confine himself in a house known for such bad things."

"Harper is a strange guy," he admitted. "Perhaps you can't tell, but he's a curious man. I think that's a part of what drove him to the estate."

"Oh."

Besides that, all I knew was that Mister Kupka and Phillip were the oldest workers there, as they worked there since Lord Adam Beardsley was a child and his father, Christian Beardsley, was the lord of the house, and Eugene's father, Daniel Beardsley, lived there too.

I had found out quite a number of things about the house and it's history in the one week I was there, and got used to the work, but I had never been given an official mission until that day.

"I heard Master Tobias found a man who had ties to Lord Adam Beardsley, by the way," Rudy said that night as we took some leftover cookies to feast on. We ate them on the staircase leading outside, as the dining table was dominated by the card-playing party and Clo and Harper were outside.

"Ties? How?"

"A close friend. He visited him often before he succumbed to tuberculosis."

"Does he know anything about a will? Or maybe a lawyer?" I asked.

"That's the thing—Master Tobias hasn't made a move yet, while Mister Silas has. I know you changed plans and decided to help Master Eugene in this struggle for inheritance, so I think this will be helpful."